Democrats on Capitol Hill, along with a few recalcitrant Republicans, have long politicized “J6” - the violence of January 6th at the U.S. Capitol on the day Congress ceremoniously* counted and certified the 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential election results.
It was plainly terrible, and opponents of President Trump seized a golden political opportunity, from advancing a badly-premised impeachment to smearing Trump supporters and launching an illegitimate House committee to keep the issue alive.
The Capitol, the world’s most recognized symbol of freedom and democracy, has been closed to most visitors ever since - almost 14 months and counting. Some 3 square miles of the Capitol complex was sealed off with fences and concertina wire for months. Another 25,000 mostly unarmed National Guard troops wasted months of their lives patrolling Capitol grounds as political props under vacuous official threats of militarized attacks by “white supremacists” and other deplorables upset with the 2020 election. They irresponsibly tossed around words like “insurrection” and phrases like “end of democracy.” They still do.
As I wrote at the time, it was a tragic and stupid event. The mostly unarmed violators handed a sword to Democrats and leftists that they continue to twist with relish, as dozens of alleged perpetrators rot in DC jails, some incarcerated and one has now committed suicide while awaiting trial for months as their civil rights take a bad seat.
And now, a convoy of American truckers, obviously jealous of Canada’s “Freedom Convoy,” are on their way to Washington, DC to give Democrats new fodder to remind us J6 all over again. And grifters are happily raising money under the guise of the protest, as evidenced by numerous text and email appeals I’ve received. I can’t wait to find out how much of the money went into the hands of the fundraisers versus the truckers themselves.
As a supporter from afar of Canada’s “Freedom Convoy,” rooted in onerous mandates on 160,000 truckers - most of them Canadian - who are registered to ship goods across the 49th parallel regularly, I take no joy in opposing this latest protest. President Biden, followed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, imposed vaccine mandates on thousands of cross-border truckers amidst a continental supply chain crisis. Canada’s mandates, including lengthy quarantines, vaccine passports, closed schools, and more, were generally far worse than anything imposed by the US government and even most Democratic governors.
Canada’s Freedom Convoy had its raison d'etre, and it exposed Trudeau as a petty and foolish anti-democratist who has long admired Communist China. Do protesting American truckers have a clear and compelling cause? And do they risk doing more harm than good to their cause of promoting freedom and ending mandates - to the extent they still exist?
The first answer is no, not really. The second answer is absolutely. As I type, Fort Pelosi is back in action, with J6 fencing returning to Capitol grounds. Again, National Guard troops are already being deployed (only 700 this time). Roads around the Capitol are already blocked. Propagandists are wasting no time.
Yeah, that’s a good look, especially comparing yourself to a snake.
Vaccine and mask mandates and school closings are ending everywhere. President Biden is likely - if he’s smart and follows the advice of Democratic political consultants - to declare the pandemic largely over (but probably fall short of ending any federal emergencies, which he should). His clearly illegal efforts to impose vaccine mandates on other than federal workers via OSHA have been rightly rebuffed by courts. COVID infections, transmissions, hospitalizations, and deaths are all declining.
Polling, combined with 30 incumbent Democratic House members' retirements, points to significant GOP election wins this year (Texas’ primary elections occur this week). I realize that more than a few right-of-center voters have less than full confidence in the effectiveness of a future GOP Congress. You’d prefer the status quo, prompted by circular political firing squads?
Yes, the logistics industry, especially truckers, has plenty of grievances, including skyrocketing fuel prices and other costs. “Hours of Service” and related regulatory burdens are unpopular. Americans should be concerned over a shortage of truckers and absurd environmental and other regulations, many at the state level (especially in California) that acerbate supply chain challenges at major ports. And similar protests in Washington, DC, especially the 1979 Tractorcade, have had some success. But some of the grievances mentioned at least one convoy organizer strike me as trivial, such as naming a couple of Scranton, Pennsylvania streets after Joe Biden. Really? Frankly, I'm more upset over Paris, France naming a street after Philly cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal. And while I’m all for a true accounting of J6 unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt’s death by Capitol policeman Michael Byrd, is this really the appropriate way to do that?
Sure, I live inside Washington, DC’s beltway, and the convoy might affect me. I don’t care, other than they might restrict emergency service vehicles. Organizers promise not to. I do care about handing The Left another political cudgel that might be used, however falsely or unfairly, against everyone on the center-right, echoed by their fellow travelers in the media. And as with many protests, instigators and infiltrators will likely be around to draw cameras' attention. As happened in Canada, those photographs will be used to castigate and smear all protestors and their supporters, with huge assistance from the partisan propagandists that populate social media, newsrooms, and broadcast booths.
An anonymous RedState.com columnist, “Bonchie” echoes my sentiments:
No doubt, I was a strong supporter of the Freedom Convoy in Canada. I felt their cause was just and that the crackdown by PM Justin Trudeau was truly authoritarian and disturbing.
The thing about that protest movement, though, was that it had a clear goal: To get rid of the federal vaccine mandate affecting truckers. While the ideological boundaries were stretched at times, it was never a question that the Freedom Convoy was fighting for something tangible and just.
On that note, what is this American trucker convoy protesting? There is no federal vaccine mandate for truckers (or private employees in general) in the United States. COVID-19 mandates at the state level have also been nearly universally lifted. Further, the fact that the U.S. is a republic has always presented a far different dynamic compared to Canada’s top-down, federal control of the populace. In short, you cannot have a successful political movement if it isn’t focused, and if the point is just to bait law enforcement in hopes of getting attention on CNN, that doesn’t seem like a very good reason for its existence.
Still, the murkier nature of the American trucker convoy wouldn’t normally be enough for me to speak against it. After all, people are free to protest for whatever reason they want, whether I agree with it or not.
Rather, the reason I’m addressing the matter is because of how politically stupid it is…the one thing Biden and Democrats are desperately hoping is a political event to reignite their right-wing, domestic terrorism trope. The biggest gift in the world to the left-right now would be for this trucker convoy to shut down traffic and become a big story, serving as a distraction from Biden’s State of the Union, which is likely to be an utter disaster. When your opponent is drowning, do not throw them a life-ring.
Of course, these truckers and everyone else have a constitutional right to assemble and protest peacefully. Many of us may be inconvenienced. This protest may be well-intended, and there’s plenty about which to be mad at Joe Biden and the federal government. But the risks, in my humble view, outweigh the benefits. This is no time to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Keep your eye on the prize.
* This is disputed by many thoughtful conservatives who believe that challenges to some state election certifications should have had been heard in full. They have a strong case, and it is sad that much evidence in support of their effort was found long after the election. There’s certainly plenty of evidence of 2020 election misfeasance and malfeasance in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona, if not elsewhere. It was superbly documented in Molly Hemingway’s definitive book on the 2020 election, “Rigged,” in chapter 9, and several interviews by celebrated election lawyer Cleta Mitchell on her superb podcast, “who’s counting.” It’s something to debate, not divide over. I happen to believe that Vice President Mike Pence was right.